Issue 81 - February 1996 (part 2 of 2) - Killer Instinct 2 Arcade

An episode of Playing With Power: A Mature, Unofficial Nintendo Power Retrospective Podcast

A mature, unofficial issue-by-issue retrospective podcast on Nintendo Power Magazine. Join the Power Boys, a gaggle of guys in their 30s comparing childhood experiences to how the coverage and games hold up today. The banter and asides contain some off-color jokes and adult content, which mostly consist of the hosts making fun of each other. Come for the content, stay for the banter!www.playingwithpowerpodcast.com

Ben and John bid us a fond farewell as the show goes on without them. Can Mike prevail on his own? He doesn't have to find out, since Ivan will be joining him for the future episodes. We might have less updates but we will be trying to keep regular now that the Arizonans are now around :)

Ben has been hosting this show since the begging, but all good things must come to an end. So John joins us to see Ben off in style. We cover a Mortal Kombat compilation (Deja vu). Ben starts the show at a screeching halt, and we slowly progress from there.
Enjoy the Final issue of Bens issue. but stay tuned for Mike and Ivan hosting the new year of 1997.

Mike and Ivan conclude the November 1996 Issue of Nintendo power, with some gross Star Wars humor and the Maui Mallard discovery leaves us laughing.
Mike and Ivan also host the Taste Test Retro Gaming with Flavour!

We live yet again, Ben isn't able to join the second last issue of 1996 with Mike so Ivan steps up to the plate to help tackle Issue 90. With Donkey Cong Country 3 and it's very suggestive clip art. Join us as we limp back to life.

Long time no see Power Players! The long wait is over. We see the compilation of Mortal Kombat trilogy tournament alpha world tour. Cause the fading SNES needed another fighter game, so why not all three in one? with 2 sub zeroes!
Support us at https://www.patreon.com/playingwithpower
and share pics and meme and stuff at https://www.facebook.com/playingwithpowerpodcast/

The lack in new episodes has led to some chices being made and opportunities for one of you loyal listeners. Ben will be leaving soon and Mike needs a cohost. Do you have the drive to see this show go on, and the will to carry hs torch?

We continue the issue with coverage of the Japanese launch of the N64, Fifa Soccer 97, and Urban Strike for Game Boy. There's an advertisement for Game Boy Pocket edition, a continuation of the "Beat the Boss" section, plus a number of previews of upcoming N64 titles. Mike's internet drops out at juuust the right time so come on over to join us.

In this issue, we talk at length about the "great" new advertisement for Nintendo Power subscribers, breeze through Tetris Attack, and roast Sonic clone Oscar. We touch base with Wayne Gretzy's 3D Hockey before starting coverage of Kirby Super Star. You'll then find us ragging hard on Markio Kart clone Power Rangers Zeo Battle Racers and Zero Racers for Virtual Boy. We discuss the merits and shortcomings of Marvel Superheroes: War of the Gems before wrapping up the first half.

We dig in on Robotech: Crystal Dreams for N64, talk about Eye of the Beholder, Star Ocean, Sword of Hope, and then greatly question the value of an Iron Man / X-O Manowar crossover for a Game Boy title. We rag on Counselor's Corner, amuse ourselves at Mortal Kombat Trilogy, try to figure out The Brainies, and then enter some filler section called Beat the Boss. A meager Now Playing section preceeds a handful of teased games both canceled and delivered before we wrap things up!

Ben's back at the helm with Mike! Bass Masters Classic Pro Edition is by far some of the most entertaining coverage we've seen in quite a while in Nintendo Power. It's pure gold and results in much hilarity from our hosts. Oh yes there's also this thing called the Nintendo 64 coming out soon...

Mike is joined by Ivan and John again for part deux! John starts the episode off by sending Mike a NSFW eel photo. The Epic center is up with Dragonheart for Game Boy, Sword of Hope for Game Boy, and continued coverage of Lufia II for SNES.
Moving on, there's even more coverage of Mohawk and Headphone Jack, Counselor's Corner, Toy Story for Game Boy,

It's a Ben-less podcast, but fear not! Mike has brought frequent guest Ivan back, who dragged along former host John who had no plans on a Friday night! As you can imagine, the conversation immediately devolves into mature joke territory.
The boys slog through the player's pulse before digging in on the N64 previews, classified information, Summer Olympic Games for SNES, Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, and more!

Hosts Ben, Mike, and repeat guests Dylan and Ivan are BACK to reveal the Nintendo Power Award winners for 1995. And who will be our Playing With Power Nesters Champ??? Tune in to find out.
We then continue the issue to dig into the Epic center (yes, more Super Mario RPG) and "stellar" games like the cancelled Lobo from the DC universe.

We're back with a rousing episode with Mike and Ben, who is recording from his parent's garage from a gaming headset! We discover the tantalizing, titilating world of a former Nintendo Power reader at awaken-your-life.com and quickly get distracted by her...testimonials?
Moving on, we pick out our favorite made up names from the team rosters on Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run. Then we discuss the wacky Mohawk and Headphone Jack, the cancelled DC comics spinoff fighting game Lobo, and drive each other crazy of course!

Tune in to part deuce where Mike and Ben talk Lufia, Super Mario RPG, Tactics Ogre, Civilization, Pocahontas for Game Boy, and College Slam for Game Boy, before Nintendo Power reheats some leftovers and features A Link to the Past again. We cover the usual sections at the back of the magazine and end on a desperate note. Join us!

Ben and Mike preview Shadows of the Empire for N64, review Power Piggs of the Dark Age, MORE Killer Instinct II Arcade coverage, The Smurfs, Kirby's Block Ball for Game Boy, MORE Earthworm Jim 2 codes, and more shenanigans as usual.

Greetings true believers! We're back at ya with the second half of issue 82 from March of 1996. Mike and guest Ivan pick things up at the Epic Center to talk Super Mario RPG, Tales of Phantasia, and P.T.O. II. Later on here them blaze through NHL '96 for Game Boy, Smurfs for Game Boy, and much, much more. Also: name change announcement for the Ultra 64!

BOOM we immediately kick things off with guests Dylan and Ivan to vote on the '95 Nester Awards. Then we dig in on Player's Pulse, NBA Jam knockoff College Slam, Frantic Flea, the horror that is Cutthroat Island, Super Mario Kart again (96 has been a slow year for Nintendo so far), Digipen student projects, the godawful Tetris 3-D for Virtual Boy, a Ken Griffey Jr. interview, and more! Phew. It's a jam packed first half of the issue. Don't miss out! Download now.

Part DEUX of issue 81 has Mike and Ben talking about Breath of Fire II, Dragon Quest VI, Nester's Funky Bowling for Virtual Boy, Prehistorik Man, Ardy Lightfoot, and Sink or Swim. Still looking for a sports correspondent by the way! They finish up the issue by walking through the Now Playing and Pak Watch sections. Have a great weekend folks!

Mike and Ben learn how *not* to go camping (hint: it involves a Virtual Boy) before tearing down the new characters from Killer Instinct 2 for the Arcade. They then crack wise at the robot master designs from Mega Man X3 before tearing Mechwarrior 3050 a new cockpit. Do you have fond memories of Toy Story for SNES? Ben thinks your nostalgia may be wrong! Mike tells us how much he "enjoyed" playing Syndicate for SNES and we close out the episode discussing some of the more questionable character designs from DKC2. Enjoy!

Closing out the second half of the January 1996 issue we welcome the return of the Super C's! We review Scooby Doo for SNES, flouder at a Golf game, and check out some game boy games before stumbling through Now Playing and cracking wise along the way. Join us!

We're baaaaack! Over the break we said goodbye to John as a full-time host, but Ben and Mike are here to pick up the pieces with guests the Super Cs to introduce our 1996 season. In this episode, we find ourselves disgusted with 90s gross-out advertisement trends, enjoy photos of a young Trailer Park Boys' Bubbles lookalike, and oh yes dig into some games! Earthworm Jim 2 for SNES followed up with a giant N64 preview (find out what games like Mario Kart 64 or Blast Corps were called before they were released!), Revolution X featuring Aerosmith, Mutant Chronicles: Doom Troopers, and Breath of Fire 2. Also featured: frequent interruptions by a certain Chavez baby!

We wrap up the year of 1995 and John's tenure as the Reddit genie of the podcast. we will be taking a break and will be back around Feb/Mar of 2018. we will have taste tests to keep you occupied, though if you crave Mike, you can always check out his hilarious horror movie podcast "The Graveyard Shift: Horror with Sheldon and Mike" on itunes and stitcher, also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod and our hilarious posts on www.facebook.com/playingwithpowerpodcast

We talk about how Nintendo teased FF7 on the NU64 before falling asleep while Mike describes Secret of Evermore in excruciating detail. John and Ben take turns interrupting him with music and Ben caps it off with a live acapella. This turns into an aside about singing inappropriate songs in the boy scouts. We describe the distaster that is Waterworld for Virtual Boy followed by the fun Virtual Boy baseball game. After bumbling our way through the rest of the issue we call it a night!

In John's penultimate issue he not only discovers the bottom of a bottle of vodka, he also tells us all about estate taxes! We learn all about Boogerman, the "popping subreddit", Mike takes a p*ss all over our Patreon donors while simultaneously failing at his job to actually *play* the games feature, and somewhere in there we talk about Spiderman & Venom Separation Anxiety and Big Sky Trooper. Lastly Ben and John give Mike sh*t for choosing the name of his *other* podcast without researching first.

Merry Christmas Power Players, we have a christmas present for you! We are joined by Ivan from the Taste Test to talk about Yoshis Island, the baby mario cry, the pastel colors, and all the joy this game brings, as well as more game goodness!

We are joined by gaming couple The Super C's to enjoy the Donkey Kong Land issue of Nintendo PowerWe are periodically joined by their kids as well cause being gaming parents is a beautiful struggle :)Ben tried his hand at Chrono Trigger and had a different experience than Mike.But everyone has a similar experience to Mike in a different regard Our guest can be found at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNDknZUaM6A4-Kj1zdrcJoAhttps://www.youtube.com/user/R3TROSTARRhttps://www.youtube.com/user/GameSensayhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoXwFmLy6tY

We are joined by gaming couple The Super C's to enjoy the Donkey Kong Land issue of Nintendo Powerwe are periodically joined by their kids as well cause being gaming parents is a beautiful struggle :)Our guest can be found at:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNDknZUaM6A4-Kj1zdrcJoAhttps://www.youtube.com/user/R3TROSTARRhttps://www.youtube.com/user/GameSensayhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoXwFmLy6tY

The trio remains to finish the May 1995 issue of Nintendo Power!We discuss the True lies game and quickly divert to the hotness of Eliza Dushku, the glory of Ah-Nold, and the concept of non russian terroristsThen we talk about warlock and the sad truth behind a Canadian who took too much influence with the movie. and much more!

Mike is working overtime on the Graveyard Shift so he's a little late in this episode, so we Bring up a dramatic reenactment of a Letter from a reader, the Death and Return of Superman, and the adorability of Kirby, as well as the guys dating lives and the Nesters for 1994And much more!

We are back to finish the Stargate issue of Nintendo Powerwe cover the upcoming ULTRA 64 and games that will never look as good as promised.Bonkers the SNES GameGerman playthrough videosPac in timeSNES games that offer patchesIzzy the olympic mascot from helland more

The boys continue their assault on the past with the Stargate issue of April 1995.we keep the 90's music references then throw in All in the family cause why not?we also discuss video games and have laughs at the expense of a certain event in colorado. too soon?also earthbound scratch and sniff cards. and movie chat. and current dating trends!and so much more.

We are on time, with our annual grab bag, and joined with Sheldon Brown from The Graveyard Shift to discuss this years theme of horror game based on movies!Enjoy us talking horror movies all the time at our facebook pagewww.facebook.com/Thegraveyardshiftpodand on itunes,google play, stitcher etc

We do issue 69, and sadly without John for the obvious jokes. We tackle Mega Man x2, some deplorable Players Pulse, more Lion King, and Kirby Golf. Does he enjoy being the ball?
As Haloween approaches, make sure to check out Mike's other podcast, The Graveyard Shift: Horror with Sheldon and Mike

Playing With power is Back! we break in 1995 with Adventures of Batman and Robin for SNES on the cover, and another trio of white guys sharing their Street Knowledge and ragging on janitors and the layout revision of the table of contents becomes our confederate statue.Also in this epsiode:Another player pulse top ten (letterman style)Lion King The X-Men and the Schism between Mike and BenThe Robotrek Connection to another RPG that would soon come out.the pitfals of PitfallStreet Racer and the outrageous characters thereinand more!

We are back. Well at least the Taste Test. Ben asked us to do a sega RPG and we went with one of the best regarded, Phantasy Star 4. It was ... divisive. Mike loved it and Brandon. Well have a listen and see how brandon gets the story. so this episode is dedicated to Ben. for all it's worth.

!994 is at an end, as we FINALLY wrap up Dec 1994 of Nintendo Power with guest, Sheldon Brown completing the Graveyard Shift vs the PWP boys with Mike caught in the middle. We hope you enjoy this epsiode as we will enjoy taking a nice break to round up some new guests! See you in a month!

The season finale trilogy continues! John is back not that the family friendly people have left and immediatly reminds us why we can't have nice things. or guestsWe coverDemons CrestEarthworm JimZero The Kamikaze Squirrel
Return Of the Jedi
Uniracer
Mickey-O-Rama!And more!
and check out Mike's new horror review podcast the Graveyard Shiftwww.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and Twitter
@GYS_HorrorPod

We wrap up this season with part one of our first trilogy. We lost John to scheduling but instead we are joined by Micheal and Justin from 2 Dudes and a Nes, to discuss Warios Woods, the final licensed NES game and the last one covered in NP. We will continue the coverage of the issue in the next issue with John. They can be found at:http://nintendudes.com/ and facebook at:https://www.facebook.com/NESDudes/
and check out Mike's new horror review podcast the Graveyard Shiftwww.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and Twitter
@GYS_HorrorPod

Hi all, to fill up the week prior to our season finale, we have a short episode that involves us watching and riffing on the promotional VHS tape that was sent out to Nintendo Power subscribers in November of 1994. You might call it "MSTDK". Enjoy.

Batman returns, and so does the Taste Test, during the last week of the season before our final issue of 1994!
We talk about the cinematic brawler that best be describe as the Final Fight of the Dark Knight, and not everyone made it to the end of this game, even with the saving grace of emulators. Enjoy!
Mike's new show The Graveyard Shift
www.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and twitter : twitter.com/GYS_horrorpod

We continue Issue 66 without Clea Forkert, but John is back. Much to his chagrin, since Mike gets his field day as we cover:Final Fantasy 3 (6)and a game of Thrones fantasy draft Wild SnakeCounsellors CornerJohn calls out Mike for mentioning H.R Geiger too much. Mike retorts.and so much more!
and Mike's new show The Graveyard Shift
www.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and twitter : https://twitter.com/GYS_horrorpod

We don't have John this issue, due to....reasons. But we have a special guest: The gal with the plushies, Clea Forkert, mentioned a few issues ago. She tells us about her exp with Nintendo, and what keeps her occupied nowadays. We discuss:Donkey Kong CountrySparksterSportsEarthworm Jimand much more!
Clea can be found athttp://cleaforkert.com/
and check out Mike's new horror review podcast the Graveyard Shiftwww.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and Twitter
@GYS_HorrorPod

We continue issue 65 with the hilarious Kyle Clark reminiscing over Maximum Carnage, The Kingsmen, Power Rangers, fave directors commentary, the connection between Pac Man 2 and Postal, Illusion of Gaia, The Counsellors Corner, Mortal Kombat 2, Yogi's Gold Rush, Steve Guttenberg getting rescued from the void world of the Wizard leading to a disney mario cinematic universe, Game gear speed running, Now Playing, the ambiguity of Dr Who, Planet of the Clowns, and tons of laughs.
Follow Kyle Clark on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/kyleclarkisrad
Follow his own podcasthttps://twitter.com/ThisIsRadPod
Buy his album "I'm a person"www.smarturl.it/kyleclark
and Mike's new show The Graveyard Shift

The boys are joined by Kyle Clark (Intern/co-host on Nerdist podcast, actor on Nerdterns, writer on Hidden America with Jonah Ray, rising stand-up comic, and all around funny/geeky son of a gun) joins us to read the october issue of Nintendo power with Illusion of GaiaAfter cracking eachother up way too much, we eventually discuss:The 90's marketing trendsNintendo Powers begrudging acceptance of Mortal Kombat 2Bindi IrwinKyle meets Ben's neighbourDonkey Kong Country (and the true story it paralells)Final Fantasy 3 (6 in japan)
and so much more!Follow Kyle Clark on Twitterhttps://twitter.com/kyleclarkisradFollow his own podcasthttps://twitter.com/ThisIsRadPod
Buy his album "I'm a person"www.smarturl.it/kyleclark

The Ben-less issue continues with Mike and John tearing it up. We cover the creation of the classic Donkey Kong Country The final coverage of Secret of Mana (Journal entry edition) and Mike couldnt be happierSome epic Counsellors Corner picsJohn gets a debilititating status ailment We get to see Power Rangers for the Game Boy.Join us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/playingwithpowerpodcast
and Twitter
@getthepower88
and check out Mike's new horror review podcast the Graveyard Shiftwww.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
and Twitter
@GYS_HorrorPod

We are not only without a guest this issue, but also a co-host! Ben is on vacation with his OTHER family, so it's just John and Mike.We cover Mortal Kombat 2, and the impending Donkey Kong Country, as well as numerous Players Pulse letters with beautiful envelope art. We cover Mortal Kombat 2 Fatality and Friendships Bomberman 2Pocky and Rocky 2
Sports games
Areobiz Super Sonic 2.
Vortex
and Shiens Revenge!

We plug through Issue 63 without Ben for the first half of this episode. John reveals his Breath of the Wild experience. We begin with Classified Information, which leads us to discuss Barry Bonds, and then Counsellor's Corner with depressed guys that don't age well, or just started enjoying puberty!
Mike realizes in the middle of Now Playing, that there are other people on the show with him, and gets vindication once again over John. and John defies type and delivers a tasteful Stevie Wonder joke!
We get into Shaq Fu and Mike immediately conceptualizes a better version of this game!
We discuss Itchy & Scratchy mini putt, with great names and a puzzling mechanic!
Mike finally fires back at John after one too many momma jokes!
We cover the power stamp catalogue and the amazing merch!
Then when plugging the graveyard shift, Ben gives John vindication.
We are at

We bring you issue 63 with a weird duck car on the cover, and the return of patreon donor, friend of the podcast and funny dude, Ivan!In the Players Pulse: We cover Tekron ads from the past, lost Go-Pros, amazing plushies from someone that Mike is probably gonna crush on, and pets that also enjoy NP magazine. We also cover the Lord of the rings and do HORRIBLE Glen Yarbrough impressions on a decent looking game that doesn't deliver.Mike gets vindicated over John by judging a book by its cover. We also discuss the Death and Return of Superman Game and comics. We immediately devolve into why Superman won't acknowledge Superboy. and why Superman is boring.
We get off course with Don Bluth discussions. and Ben get vindicated over John and then has to deal with kids that won't sleep.
Join us on facebook atwww.facebook.com/playingwithpowerpodcast

We continue epsiode 62 of Nintendo Power We go into:
Secret of Mana with the appropriate love and respect it deserves.... lol
Back to the Future (even though theres no game of it featured)Super Gameboy games!
Sports Jeopady (Whyyyyyyyyy?)
and John tells us why this issue had the WORST first prize
fianlly we stumble upon a review that WE would have wrote.
and so much more!We are on patreon at www.patreon.com/PlayingwithpowerpodcastMike's new podcast the graveyard Shift is on:www.facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpodand itunesSo check it if you like horror movies or think mi

Mike finally announces his new podcast The Graveyard Shift! (Itunes graveyard shift with Sheldon and Mike, artwork has the cartoon skulls on a tombstone)Facebook.com/thegraveyardshiftpod
John does some Beat Poetry Slam jamming to accompaniment by Mike and BenWe tackle Street Fighter 2 yet again.Mike gets to expound on Breath of Fire and do his Glen Yarbrough impression Ben gives his impromput review of the Hulk movie by Ang lee who he confused for John Woo. Now who's racist?
We review the Jungle book....again and discover the suggestive titles, go into a revolutionary war triva lesson with what a Macaroni is, and realize the bad guy in double dragon is a Kitty.

Ivan comes to his senses and leaves, but the power boys endure to finish yet another issue of Nintedo Power! Mike unleashes his great/terrible Mother brain impression to finish the Metroid comic!The counsellors provide us the same schadenfreude snickering . We get some DK trivia. AND SUPER GAME BOY GOODNESS and Mike shares a change in his status.

Past guest Ivan returns to the show, and immediately regrets his decision. but remains as we discuss numerous terrible things and Letterman impressions... Not the least of which was the courting mishaps between Beauty and the Beast. and much more

Player One has left us, but the laughs keep going with the power boys as we finish up issue 60. We continue our unstable vocal rendition of the Metroid comic, and explore Samus's origins depsite numerous interuptions. and much more!

Famed Speedrunner Player One joins us to read Metroid and discuss games and jokes and many things that make us fall in love with his voice. We get him to read the Nesters so look forward to that!The power boys get into the many problems with Buffalo. All kinds. And not everyone loves Super Metroid but we love making jokes at Samus' expense.Mike gets railroaded at the outtake.

Retro Princess stays on with Ben and Mike, despite their differences from last episode.... untill she clashes with Mike again and now Ben as well. The gin may or may not have been responsible. We continue with Wario Land coverage, Counsellors Corner with a disturbing monster in Final Fantasy Legend, Ben wonders why so many cave man games were prevalent at the time.We get into more CD vs Cartidge coverage and Nintendo brings the diss.

It's a Sports cover so of course John isn't here! instead we are joined by the ever funny (and drunk) Retro Princess, Straight Outta England! We cover many things, including the continuing adventures of Samus Aran, as well as sports things we don't really know much about.We also get a royal rumble as our King of the Mike and the Princess of Retro get into a little heated debate over a stupid Mickey Mouse game. So stay tuned and keep Playing with Power!

Ivan sticks around to help us finish off this weeks issue and boy do we have a fun old time. We are still drafting cheques to the NCAAP after this issues samus comic, and we get into the counsellors corner and the last Startropics game, Zoda's Revenge!

Well Ben is out but we have a guest to keep a trio going, we have long time Patreon supporter and first time guest, Ivan on the show. he was a real sport and his regret being on the show, though instant, wasn't enough to make him leave, and we got to discuss the many goodies in issue 58 of Nintendo Power, including the feature title Wario Land!

We are joined with our very first guest Richard Rheder one again. Unfortunately we relied on skype and rich learned the hard way why we record our track individually. but hopefully you will enjoy the episode anyway. Lots of jokes and fun time in this one.

Well Mike fell off the airwaves but he's back to help Ben and John discuss games that never made it to North America; for good reason in most cases. John scares a Reddit HORROR story about cunnilungus gone awry. John and Mike discover a shared disablility Batman ain't a gentleman
and more!

X gonna give it to ya, and WE are going to give you X. Mega Man X in fact! The blue bomber makes his SNES debut and it's a whopper of a treat of a doozy. Much love for this game and the boys are back to deliver quality vulgarity on the podcast waves. Enjoy :)

we bring our season break to a successful end and Brandon closes it out with his pick, Issue 37, Lemmings!we look forward to new episodes as much as you do and we will do our best to be worth the wait. Enjoy!

Brandon gets his turn at picking his fave eps, starting with the first haloween epsiode of the taste test. we're almost done the repeats folks. Stick around for the fun at the end. If you have any fave epsiodes, tell us on twitter @getthepower88 or on the facebook page.

Its a retrospective reunion! this time ben picked our first guest appearance, Rich Rheder! the one that got Mike into podcasting and it's all his fault! We hope you look forward to reminiscing about Rich's appearance here and look forward to having him on again! Cause we will. ENJOY!

Hey there it's now Bens week to pick his faves and we kick off the week with Jeremii, the first and so far only game developer we've had on the show, and a hell of a cosplayer! We hope you are enjoying our retrospective hiatus on the retrospective podcast and have begun working on new content for you. ENJOY!

Fooled ya. It's another mega epsiode with two full epsidoes of the first of Mikes pick. the Llewellyn Graeme episode. He's the game counsellor who told us what paradise the heyday of Nintendo Power is. he introduced us to Timor Leste, the first country of this century. and so much more.

John gets his second pick of the past with the fun chats we had with Katherine Spiers, the step daughter of Howard Philips. One was issue 14. and todays the 14th. But he forgot there was 2 episodes with her so we got them both for you. Yup. Luckily you won't have to deal with huge episodes for the rest of the break.

We finished our review but there was so much more banter we couldnt have a single outtake. Theres just someone in Zelda that grabbed Brandons heart and mind and couldnt let go. we create a new spinoff of zelda featuring a minor character finally given time to shine.

We're Back! The taste test triumphantly returns to bring you delight and banter! This time we cover Rygar, the yo-yo warrior, and Metal Storm the laser sword robot game! Mike starts dabbling with Sound effects. The results speak for themselves.

This is our 100th episode and so glad to have you still with us! Mike brings the show to a crescendo in the first 5 minutes. We are STILL joined by Sheldon Brown https://m.facebook.com/reviewreplay/ and https://twitter.com/sheldonjbrown We're going on a tiny break but will keep the feed going with our fave shows, and you can tell us what eps we should load up again so newcomers will see them. Just let us know on facebook or twitter :)

We tackle one of the best games on the SNES , with a fantastic internet personality, Retro Princess https://twitter.com/retroprincess1 and have an amazing time challenging eachothers depravity and sharing great stories from around the world with totally NOT offensive accents, but its all white countries so its not racist :)Also: Penguin sex organs.

We've lost guest Virtual Valerie to the temptation of the Switch side, but we soldier on as we do, and bring you more Nintendo Power nostalgia goodness. well mediocrity. It's the same glorious depravity you come to love and expect!

We have a guest on the show, Virtual Valerie! No not the mid 90's sex game, but a living person who collects toys and plays games while drunk. She's here to help us read issue 53 of Nintendo power and share in the depravity!She's on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/valerie_virtualand youtube here: https://t.co/eQ6F1E3wfq and facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007106256203

(RE-Re-posting due to a publishing error)Yeah the last version was cropped to 19 minutes. Dunno why. So here is the whole thing. same file. But longer. weird.
We swap out hosts and now have...
BenMikeBrandon
Will Brandon repeat his terrible failure on this epsiode and sleep for another week? Tune in and find out!

We are back with Sleepy Brandon, and pissed off Mike and John, and special guest Brian from Morningtoast.comwe finish this episode in desperate hopes that Brandon will awake. Do we get our hearts desire?

Ben's Missing due to family troubles but the house stays packed with:Mike KingJohn IngallBrandon Boswelland guest Brian from Morningtoast.com
as wel celebreate 50 issues and 5 years on Nintendo Power with laughs, letters, horrible NES games that don't see the SNES writing on the wall, and so many other things. We get an audio hiccup about 20 minutes in, but some careful editing salvages it.Then Brandon does the unthinkable and noone can salvage it . Enjoy

Ben is out this week so we have Brandon Boswell. He has some explaining to do after leaving fans wondering if the Taste Test is over. it's coming back. We have a blast reading about the battletoads. so many battletoads this issue.

Batman Doesn't return to this second half of the issue, but WE do! and we learn of australia and the wildlife you don't f** with.and some stuff in the issue. But really . Australia. Don't f*** with the wildlife.

Micheal Keaton Returns in no way whatsoever as Batman, since it's a video game without audio or CG Capture, but he's still on the cover of this issue. We immediately come up with a better follow up to this than Schumacher did. Enjoy!

We watched the Switch live press event so you didnt have to. and like Mystery science theatre, we had our own observations about what we were seeing. So instead of reading a magazine you can't see, we discuss live footage you can't see. We stay true to ourselves on PWP! But if you DID want to see it, you can see it on our youtube channel here https://youtu.be/2S8vNI1u0FY

We got more bonus material for you to keep you occupied while we take a break to spend time with our loved ones or finish smiting our old enemies to make room for new ones next year.we even have bonus content IN this bonus content. enjoy!
Merry Christmas to all, and here's Mike's own poem. Let us know if you read thisTwas the night before christmas when all through the club All the players were playing, while sippin on bub Kid Rock on the speakers and I in my booth Getting a table dance free, by my girl, "100 proof" When all of a sudden there rose such a clatter I tossed her aside to see what was the matterAway to the floor we ran like the flash Tore open our wallets and pulled out our cash! The size of the breasts on this newly hired ho Gave rush to the blood of our parts down below When what to my wondering eyes should appear But a mini

We celebrate a year of profanity, players polls, patreon , and so much more. It's been a year and it feels like we're just getting started. We take stock of how we started, which comes as a suprise to the one guy who's been on every single episode. and bring you our greatest bits as mentioned by you. and if you didn;t get to hear your fave piece, hit us up in the facebook with a comment or PM and ask for it by episode number like a good fan and we will do what we can for the next year :D

It's Christmas time in both the present and the past, and we are filled with the spirit of the season in our hearts every day of the year, so you get the same thing we gave you last week. Another epsiode of the Playing With Power Podcast!

We took 2 side dishes as our main course this time as we tackle 2 games. Lode Runner and Gun.Smoke get their turn as Mike and Brandon have their last in person Taste Test and we announce the new upload schedule due to good problems in our lives :)

It's a special edition of the Taste Test as we lose Ben but keep Brandon so we keep the Nintendo Power coverage going. This counsellors corner keeps Mike and Brandon occupied with impressions. We got excited about one board game, but not another. So join us and let us know what you think!

Howdy power players! We cover issue 40 of Nintendo Power featuring Felix the cat. we have Brandon Boswell guest in-studio with Mike and we have a blast tearing apart the mailbag section before sharing way too much about felix the cat and enjoying some great times, so sit a spell and have a listen.

Hey there! We take a Press Pause to talk about our MANY terrible thoughts on the Nintendo switch Trailer. and some point the actual device. Join us, as we resume our regular issue discussions next week. Happy Weekend!

Brandon fought the hazards of the canadian wilderness to join Mike live in the PWP/TT studio (Mike's Room) and have a blast as we join Firebrand in this episode and discuss the ramifications and true natures of his quest. Hope you enjoy!

A sponsored episode, brought to you by a Patreon donor! Jason Zuzio has reliably supported the show and requested we cover the missing issues of Nintendo Power, the Strategy Guides from the second year of Nintendo Power. So we begin by covering the first, Super Mario Bros 3! If you want to control an episode of the show, you can support the patreon and after we're sure you won't skip out, we will oblige!

Hey there fellow game diners, we take a lesson in other cultures by playing this super fucked up game. Zombie nationYou play a floating severed head on a whirlwind tour of the Americas and stopping a zombie attack, perhaps. We have no idea what this game is. but damn glad we played it so we could witness the ending, and talk about it at least.

Once there was a song that
weird al used to great effect
and then soon was forgotten
But when it finally came back
Ben found, a way to use it to torture
He couldn't quite explain it
It was really just funny
Hmmmm mmmm mmmm mmm
mmm mmm mmm mmm

We get super creative as we lead into this issue with a return to the clay Mario but more accurate now
We find interesting old people stories in the Players Poll
We take on Gargoyles Quest
Then Mike tells us more about the mysterious bird creature who was NOT in Link to the Past, and we see some great game boy games. and some crap.
and we get s song stuck in our heads that our two hosts weaponize against the other.....

Brandon returns for a second go, to discuss issue 38 with Mike and John as been is down for the episode, and Brandon brings his special insight tot he players pulse, Panic Restaurant, Password bonanzas, and some Jeep racing game.
oh and much more :D
Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween Loyal Listeners!
We sink our fangs into these unsuspecting games and go for the Juggalo vein with savage reviews and fervor as we take on 4 games in hopes of some candy.
We review:
Monster Party
Friday 13th
Fester's Quest
Monster in my Pocket
Happy Halloween Power Players!

Issue 36 keeps us laughing as we see the preview for Street Fighter 2 and it's disappointing arcade cabinet, and many more.
John is not impressed with card based dungeon crawlers lol. Mike figures out what could have put Krusty's fun house into excellent territory blending wit the cartoon.
But the star of the show is David Faustino and his rap career. yeah. I told ya.
Stick around for the whole version.
Happy Halloween!

We got a guest listener as cohost of the Taste Taste, Brandon Boswell, takes his sweet time getting a scan of the issue, but we make it work as we tackle issue 37 of Nintendo Power with Lemmings on the cover. and goodies inside.
Mike gets spicy after getting a less than perfect review, and some less awesome players pulse letters but it's all in good fun. Brandon makes a perfect observation, and much more.
We discuss lemmings, and the horrors of Disney, and Mike gets back to comic goodness.
Brandon discusses the spankability of Samus as we discuss Metroid 2 for Game boy, and the conspiracy of Friendly Floyd. Ben keeps it simple.
Stay Tuned for the Taste Test Starring Mike King and Brandon Boswell coming soon on the feed

Happy anniversary to our podcast listeners! As a present to you for your loyal listenership, and patreon funding, we have delivered on the promise of a new show hosted by Mike King of PWP fame, and fellow Canadian, Brandon Boswell, frequent guest and lovable stoner/cook!
this is the rough pilot of the Taste Test, a show where we play to completion or frustration, a retro video game every week. We will focus on the NES games, particularly ones that eluded us the first time around or got a passing mention in Playing with Power. We will air the rest on a regular weekly schedule and even bring you, the fans, in on the rough/gentle loving these games have in store for us, with polls coming up very soon..
This series kicks off with a game that shared some notoriety in the early episodes of playing with power. but can it's gameplay redeem it's complicated appearance, or can you judge a game by it's appalling screenshots?

We continue issue 36 with Mario comics, still lamenting the neutered counsellors corner
SNES games include
Zardon.
yet more games that defy the obvious successful direction.
The first GREAT Simpsons home console game.
Some kids that just need to be taken down a peg.
and much more

When there's trouble, you call DW
and when gamers have trouble they call Nintendo Power. This is issue 36 with Darkwing Duck on the cover, and lots of goodies inside like:
Whacky races. a racing game without racing.
Robocop 3. Decent game of a shitty movie
Zelda comic.
board games for game boy. trippy artwork for sure.

We conclude issue 35 with more goodness provided by Llewellyn Graeme, Game Counselor and awesome dude. He leaves shortly into the podcast but not without dropping some stories on us regarding his brushes with fame and the perks of being a counselor.
We then enjoy reading comics, and discussing the Addams family movies, the SNES PlayStation, Wrestlemania deaths, the fall of the Hulkster, and much much more.

Welcome to Issue 35, a very special and informative issue, as we see the SNES coming into prominence. John isn't with us sadly, but we are joined by an ACTUAL GAME COUNSELOR and really awesome dude in general, Llewellyn Graeme !
We mentioned him in issue 27, and he joins us to tell us that working for the NES tip line was even more awesome than we ever could have assumed.
We also discuss how the SNES improvement mentioned on the cover lead to the creation of Nintendo's greatest enemy and the ultra rare Nintendo PlayStation.
ALSO: great stories behind the scenes of Nintendo, Impressions by Mike, a shining endorsement and so much more.

Issue 34 concludes with better audio, but no Ben again. but we do have music. and cookies. OK i ate the cookies when posting this but i couldn't Bogart the music.
01:00 - Counselors Corner with some premium looking counselors. and we discuss the preview of lemmings. and poop.
11:00 - Joe and Mac. Good looking game. and more colon related humor. Addams family posters.
17:00 - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. not much to say about it......
59:00 - Nester Awards with Triforce's thoughts! and his respect for all lives is sweet. especially Yoshi.
1:09:00 - Comic reading time with uncle Mike. Nester's adventure, Zelda, and Super Mario Adventures.
1:34:00 - Outro with an outtake

We got a badass over here. Video game champion Isiah Triforce Johnson is here in Skype, though due to scheduling issues Ben couldn't join us. We discuss ways to legitimize the the SNES Superscope, and possibly our own podcast.
00:30 - Cover, Inside, Table of Contents. We also discuss cool prizes the fans asked for, and a LEGIT costume photo sent by a fan.
18:30 - Empire Strikes Back - Not the super version, not even a good version. Mike finds porn immediately. We immediately skipped to Terminator 2 Judgement day. Too bad this wasn't SNES. And Nightshade is a Maniac Mansion monochromatic mimicry.
29:30 - M.C Kids. Not Mc, These kids are MC's.
35:00 - Classified Information featuring Captain Planet and Actraiser. Triforce makes an executive decision.
39:00 - Mega man (takes a number) 2 for the Gameboy. and the jokes start coming out. by jokes i mean shit games. and the wretched things we

We conclude issue 33. Sans John.
We cover the legend of the Mystical Ninja. and Ben masterfully segues Mike out of a tangent. good game, good discussion
19:00 - Wanderers from YS
24:00 - Super Scope 6. A decent peripheral with not enough games for it. Bazooka trumps orange magnum any day in our opinion. but not as marketable as the zapper. too cumbersome for logo cache?
36:00 - We discuss religious hats and the Players Poll. Nester Adventure gets a Redwashing with Simon Belmont. Nester must master the whip, No ghost riding though.
1:10:00 - Outro

Notes to be filled in later. Suffice to say Mike had a busy weekend.
We discuss TMNT and the logistics issues present in the narrative and so much more.
Please support the patreon so Mike doesn't get distracted by his awful job, and can dedicate his days to making high quality notes and entertainment for you :D

We continue issue 32 with more goodness as the power boys lament the makeover in counsellors corner. but we carry on to face dracula with simon belmont.
1:00 - Counsellors corners lacking the bios. sigh
4:00 - Super Castlevania. How is Simon Belmont alive after a century? we got some theories.
19:00 - We take a glance at a preview of the Link to the Past.
24:45 - True Golf Classics. lots to talk about for a golf game here.
30:30 - Super Off Road. More of the same and looking much better than the original.
33:30 - Nesters abbreviated adventures. players poll, top 20's and so much more.
56:20 - Pak watch and what's coming.
1:03:00 - Outro

Join us as we take on issue 32 of Nintendo power with Castlevania 4 as the cover. We hope you enjoy yourself
00:45 Cover - We discuss auras and leather skirts, and Link channels the kool-aid man and we get told how to hookup our consoles for twice the fun. and the recklessness of game boy and surfing.
12:00 - Players Pulse! gotta say we are not impressed with Gail's remodel of less mail. We see some great models and homemade plushies from fans. Mike continues to learn the states. and we decide to call all 3 Nintendo Power numbers.
25:30 - Mega man 4 has some interesting enemies and we discuss correction officers enjoying their job too much. the various bosses and mythology of Mega man and the terminator connection.
38:00 - Monster in My Pocket. Tiny creature, big adventure. bigger tangents!
50:00 - Zelda comic! Mike has a great time. And classified information delivers a nugget of comedy

Ben is still lost to us but we persevere! We discuss the Metroid sequel for the Game Boy.
01:00 Metroid II: Return of Samus
09:30 Ninja Gaiden for Game Boy
14:00 Master Higgins for Game Boy (Hudson's Adventure Island)
21:30 Design your own Game Boy contest results!
30:00 Now Playing: Talespin, Home Alone
38:00 Celebrity Profile: Mayim Bialik of Blossom and Big Bang Theory fame
42:30 Pak Watch

Nintendo Power Issue 31 from December 1991, featuring Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy on the cover.
Ben was unable to make it, so Mike and John power through.
03:00 The boys start talking about OJ Simpson
06:00 Let's talk about muscular Samus, then let's dig in to the Player's Pulse.
23:30 Batman: Return of the Joker
29:00 Nester's Adventures
34:00 T-Rex video sends the boys into tears
47:00 Counselor's Corner - the last of this format before Gail takes away our fun!

Not so much music this time as we try to locate Carmen Sandiego
00:40 - Carmen Sandiego. decent name writing, poor game development.
06:20 - Where in the world is Air Combat? Then Tom and Jerry prompt Mike to ponder where cartoon parents went. and the sewer level really brings out the aspiring game developers in all of the hosts.
18:00 - Faceball 2000 has an awful poster. Battletoads for Gameboy is a true port. including the turbo tunnel.
23:00 - Kid Icarus leads us to learn about how John earned money in college. Faceball 2000 introduces us to the legions of the Smiling God.
35:00 - Super Nintendo Previews. Finally games with Super in them are on a Super system.
-Tennis
-U.N Squadron
-Super Baseball Simulator
41:50 - We loose Ben to his neighbor just in time for the players polls
44:15 - Now Playing

Final Fantasy 2 is the cover game this issue, and we celebrate the music of the game. Enjoy this extra musical episode of Playing with Power!
04:20 - Mike takes issue with this issue...'s cover.
14:00 - Game Boy Game Link partners in the Mail Bag this month. Interesting selection. and Mike tried to look up the featured player. but as was the case with everyone who isnt Josh Foreman, it didn't end well.....
31:00 - We finally hit the first game, the Flintstones!
46:00 - Final Fantasy 2. Mike can only get SO hard. Enjoy the music.
1:16:50 - Counselors Corner with grooming tips.
1:24:20 - Shout Outro!

Hey everyone we have a great guest you might have seen in our facebook page, competitive gaming promoter, manager, and champion of e-sports, guiness record holder and cool dude, Isaiah Triforce Johnson. Yes that's his LEGAL name. this is how serious he takes gaming. and he has a lot to tell us about himself, and the ways he's trying to change the world, so join us as we "press pause" on our regular scheduled program to learn more about modern gaming as a sport, and it's long storied history.
For the low Down on the history of competitve gaming and e-sports pantheon of all-stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MNBT63UZtM Chasing ghosts
http://manvssnake.com/ Man Vs Snake
http://www.thekingofarcades.com/ King of Arcad

Welcome to issue 29, where we tackle Star Trek as the feature game, and Mike begins with sterling clear audio and his dazzling Shatner impression. Join us as we proceed without apology.
01:20 - Cover: Star Trek 25th Anniversary. Then Mike draws parallels between the Fast and Furious and the recent Star Trek movie in the worst way possible.
8:00 - Mail Bag: Kid's ratting out their parents for playing THEIR games. We get Savage AF.
23:30 - WTF-Zero. what does the F and the 0 stand for?
32:00 - Comic: Ne-Star Wars Halloween special
40:00 - Star Trek 25th Anniversary. This game has the best memory chip with dilithium crystal backup for saves.
49:00 - Uncle Ben's Counsellor's Corner.
55:00 - Metroid. the original "Bad Bitch" Samus Aran on her first adventure with proper NP coverage. getting us revved up for the Game Boy sequel next month
1:04:00

The second part of issue 28 of Nintendo Power, and the final episode of Mike's wretched audio. no more reason to apologize after this one! We pick up with one Final Fantasy gameboy game that isnt the awful Fantasy game boy game!
01:00 - Final fantasy adventure - Precursor to Secret of Mana. and a great looking game! and chocobo abuse is impending. Other game boy titles like baseball and marble madness! and we discuss Strokemon. and other Nintendo owned porn titles.
16:30 - Super NES preview! Too many to list, to good to ignore!
22:00 - Now Playing. Boating featuring Woody Allen! and a Counsellors Corner with a horrible map for legacy of the wizard.
35:20 - Celebrity Interview - Bart Simpson
47:00 - Outro! and shout out to Peter Guzman and James MillHolland!

Welcome to Part 1 of Issue 28 of playing with power. The final issue of Mike's substandard audio. Special shoutout to patreon donors James Millholland, and Peter Guzman! and stay tuned for special announcement regarding a new series on the feed! No links to the Retromags scans since they are gone.
3:00 - Cover: Super Mario World and the intricacies of American Gladiators and an epic mail bag, not to be confused with the Tanuki's male bag
15:00 - SUPER MARIO WORLD! What can we say about this game? a lot apparently. and Final Fantasy for some reason. Mike and John determine who is MORE color blind
38:30 - Nester's Adventure
42:00 - Star wars (not the SNES one). Mike learns the horrible alternate ending to the movie, where Luke is alone at the medal ceremony and also The horrible truth about who shot up the Jawa sandcrawler.
56:00 - Smash T.V. Mike tells us all about his experience playing the

We return to finish issue 27, with Dr Wily's Revenge and Final Fantasy
01:30 - Dr Wilys Revenge. If you want less than Mega Man on NES but more than the Tiger handheld game, this is the game for you. Uncle Ben gives out more electrical safety advice and we all share shocking stories
07:00 - Final Fantasy Legend 2 (covered more on Is It Worth it, good friends of the show) and we discuss swastikas and boxcar moustache.
10:50 - Days of Thunder. and Ben shares a wedding story and his disdain for Miami.
17:00 - Ultimate design your own Gameboy contest!
19:30 - SNES preview! and Mike screws up James name with Randy. John corrupts Mike
and we chat about Phalanx and their unusual choice in box art. Actraiser looks so good.

We discuss Issue 26 with Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. John gets shut down by Ben and Mike for his taste in movies. We get treated to good and bad voice impressions
03:00 - Cover. and what can a gamer do with JUST the SNES console. What can brown do for Robin Hood? Everything. Brown is doing everything. John has a cathartic moment about math. We all do.
11:00 - Mail Bag. featuring conspiracy chat and military game boys
24:00 - Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. and we discuss horrible things that Robins horse had to endure with all the men
35:30 - Nesters Adventures (sans Howie) and horrible Sean Connery impressions
42:00 - Rocking Kats and Classified Information
52:00 - Little Mermaid ft Story time with Uncle Ben!

We got Blaine J from Is It Worth It? It's a podcast about reviewing / appraising a game to deciding if the cost of the game is worth the current asking price on Ebay and collection sites.
Blaine and Mike both have a rep for talking up a storm, so John and Ben ran and hid for this episode but will return to discuss Issue 26 as usual.
When 2 people who dominate conversations clash, what can the outcome be? Let us know what you think as we blend our shows together :)
02:00 - Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
08:30 - Hunt for Red October, and what the hell is Sqwoon?
11:30 - Rocking Kats
13:30 - Little nemo
16:00 - Lone Ranger
17:50 - Bart Vs Space Mutants
20:20 - Little M

Hey everyone we are back with part 2 of Battletoads and we are picking things up with the Special Feature Game boy and John regails us with the joy of submarine games
01:00 - Game boy Special. Hunt for Red October. The golden SUB-Standard. RC Pro Am
And four Score for gameboy comes with Super Off Road. woooo......
11:30 - Now Playing - Bo Jackson, Sky raid
14:50 - It's the Final Howard and Nester comic. with Howard's unceremonious exit
19:40 - Day Dreaming Davey. and the dating advice continues
26:40 - Players Poll.
29:00 - Counsellors Corner
38:50 - Celebrity Profile - David Leisure. and sadly Bill and Ted, and the game gear
43:15 - We continue the prime mermaid sexual configuration discussion with

Hey there Power Players this is it. Howard Philips is leaving Nintendo Power to move onto better things. So Join us we discuss Battletoads, the SNES and little else :)
01:00 - Cover - Battletoads, Howard announces he leaves. John Plays Pokemon Go. and we read about pets in the mailbag. Mike faces a mutiny!
14:30 - Battletoads. So much Battletoads! and the Americans tell blood stories. Mike makes a pun. did you catch it? leave it in the comments :)
39:00 - Super Nintendo Entertainment System. John gets saucy on Mike!
53:00 - NES Golf.
58:00 - Outro

Mike had mystery issues with his audio but after a while (and a few botched episodes) we figured it out. so the audio will be less than great for the next couple of weeks but we DID fix it by issue 29. so bear with us. that is all :)

We keep things going with Josh Foreman to finish this issue! The morality police came and took John, but we endure!
Also check out Mike on the RPG show!
02:00 - Special Feature: Game Boy! Mysterium, Gauntlet 2, and Ben tells Josh about Golgo 13!
Battle Unit Zeoth, Nintendo World Cup! Wow this game is awesome to talk about! and Mike won't stop the puns! Final Fantasy on Game boy. Oh Boy!
22:30 - Adventures of Lolo 3!
29:00 - Uncle Ben shares advice about eating at Jersey Mikes (no relation to playing with power Mike)
32:20 - Celebrity Profile - Alex Winter (Bill S. Preston of Bill and

Hey there Power Players! We have Josh Foreman on the show! We Talk about the May 1991 issue of NP to discuss Vice Project: D00M and so many awesome things!
He is a level designer on Guild Wars 2 and a great guest! check his links
5:40 - Cover - Vice Project Doom!
15:30 - Art Beat featuring special fan: Maybe someone we know! Disturbing zelda Fan art!
29:30 - Vice Project Doom! Delivering the promise that Bayou Bil

Today we will be giving an extra press pause to catch up on all this power we played with. We will be back on Monday with the next issue, Enjoy this frank discussion of what games we're playing lately and what we think of the Nintendo Classic Mini (and it's shortcomings)
enjoy!

This is a new series from the power boys where we discuss urgent news, rising trends, sweeping fads, or whatever we feel like discussing that exists out of Nintendo Power
This pilot episode we discuss Pokemon Go!
If you have things you would like us to discuss, feel free to leave comments in the Facebook, or the twitter

We cover Issue 23, with Jeremy as our guest. Jeremy is a con attendee, programmer, super Nintendo Power fan nerd extraordinaire. and a great guest.
Check out his appearance at SXSW (here)
Meeting the voice of Mario himself (here)
his Nintendo power revival page (http://www.powerupnintendo.com)
on Twitter for the power up, here, and Ultra Dolphin Revolution @ultdolrev and website
Get this issue

We are back with James Millholland to wrap up Nintendo Power issue 22. He tells us about his podcast with Blaine J "Is it worth it" available on the Retro RPG podcast feed
4:00 - Centerfold - Battletoads
9:00 - Special Feature Game Boy. Contra, Boy and his Blob (colour themed feeding system on a black and white screen. no problem here.
14:00 - Special appearance by Mike's dad('s vacuum cleaner)
15:30 - Now Playing. Mike's rage rises. Top 30. Coming soon. Mike rages again
21:00 - NES the inside story
30:00 - G.I Joe. So of course we sing the theme.
40:00 - Now Playing - More text based NES games. and we diss Indiana Jones
44:00 - Princesss Tomato and the Salad Kingdom
49:00 - Nesters are back
1:00:00 - Counsellors Corner
and Mike falls off skype. Bad Mic for Mike.
1:12:00 -

Metal Storm is the issue. We have James Millholland from "Is It Worth It?" a retro games review podcast available on the Retro RPG Podcast feed, along with co-star Blaine J to review games and determine if they are worth their asking price online. Check it out! We love this guy, and we get some love from reviews on itunes. So please keep it up listeners :)
06:00 - Cover - Metal Storm. A mech with subtle nazi overtones.
18:00 - Mike "raps" up the mail bag.
20:15 - Metal Storm. It's a decent platformer that gives Mike Deja Vu
27:30 - Howard and Nester relaxing on Startropics Island! and Juggalos! Because.
35:00 - Startropics. Vuvuzelas, rape whistles and bears. Oh my.
42:00 - Tangents a plenty.
Beards, Johns neighbour, Mike covers Snoop Dogg
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7egcJTiplzc), Grimace, Standford and bad parenting
the Streisand

We are back with Brandon Boswell and his less than silent laptop (but without Ben) to wrap up issue 21 of Nintendo Power.
1:40 - Special Feature Game Boy (is it special if it's monthly?) we discuss sports. By we, I don't mean Mike.
13:30 - Classified information (mostly Batman talk) and Quentin Tarantino's love affair with the N word. and it's not Netflix
18:30 - Magician. WTF is this ugly looking mess?
22:00 - Power Meter inside story
26:30 - Ultima Quest of the avater. you like RPG's? this looks like one.
31:40 - Classified Information - Dragon Warrior 2. Oh these counsellors. you never disappoint.
38:30 - Players Poll. Virtual reality pods! and the horrifying possibilities!
50:00 - Now Playing. North & South - The racism will rise again!
57:00 - Celebrity Profile, some sports guy! and sex talk. and another sports guy

We have a Stand up guest. Literally. we have Canadian stand up comic Brandon Boswell on the show as we discuss the utility of the disabled and much more.
02:20 - Cover - Startropics, Inside cover. Voices!
13:00 - Powerline! feels like I'm going to lose my mind. You just keep on pushing my love over the powerline
17:00 - Mailbag! Plus we discuss Terry Fox again!
33:30 - TMNT 2, Man this game is good. We're gonna talk about this for a while.
1:08:30 - Howard and Nester - Mega Man 3
1:11:30 - Quantum Fighter Kabuki Man. we mostly talk Civil War and Brandon shares his preferred suicide method which is pretty nice.
1:23:00 - Classified Information.
1:24:40 - StarTropics. so of course we discuss Okami and which animals are the rapiest.
1:37:30 - Outro

We're back and finishing up Issue 20 with the Simpsons poster. plus we get a nice present from the past courtesy of 9 year old Ben
2:00 - Gremlins 2.
12:00 - Game Boy Special Feature
19:30 - Game Boy Now Playing
21:30 - Howard and Nester (Solar Jet-man)
25:00 - Miracle Piano and Counsellors Corner
33:20 - Players Poll and some answers coutesy of 9 year old Ben! and some interesting Players Poll Winners including Mike's porn name!
39:50 - Power Express: Now Playing!
46:00 - Celebrity Profile- New Kids on the Block!
58:00 - Super Famicom showcase!
1:08:00 - Outro

We are back from the past, to present day. Glad to be back in the 90's
1:00 - Cover. Powerline
5:30 - Mail Bag featuring a certain Apple employee! also a fraternity and Jr high school group. All of whom loves gameboy!
23:40 - Mega Man 3
44:30 - How Game Paks Work. Mike did his homework on this. we discuss the inner workings of gamepaks and how they evolved over the years.
1:03:00 - The Immortal
1:09:30 - Classified Information. Deja Vu (with Guest Appearace by Ben's neighbour)
1:21:00 - Outro

Hey Everybody, we're finishing up on the proto power newsletter, the Nintendo Fun Club. and share some stories of quitting in style, whether its work or this mortal coil.
5:20 - Cover. Sports. Moving on.
8:30 - Mike calls out Howie. We talk Christian Bale and Tom Cruise has a connection to one of our hosts.
15:30 - We talk Metroid. Eventually.
19:00 - Louie Reviewee. Clearly an ad. Special appearance by the parents.
24:15 - Tips and Tricks. Nintendo Power Ad. Mail Bag Tips. we talk LOST.
33:00 - Counsellors. Cobra. Top 5
38:00 - Power Player Profile. With special appearance by Ben's neighbour.
43:30 - New Games coming like Golgob, and Mike is accused of racism? Heaven's no!
53:00 - Outro

Ben was sucked into his television set and left Mike and John to carry us to the conclusion of Issue 16 - Maniac Mansion. We discuss the father of Animation. Do yourself a favour and look here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay). We apologize for Mike leaving his ipad too close to the mic.
01:45 - Previews: Litte Nemo. First the anime, then the game!
05:45 - The History of Little Nemo's creator, Winsor McCay!
12:30 - Previews: Dragon warrior 2
16:45 - Previews: Solar Jetman!
19:00 - Previews: Ninja Turtles 2!
23:30 - Previews are over. Time for New Games! Dick Tracy! and we get political.
35:00 - Video Shorts. Bugs Bunny birthday Coke party. Giligans Island. Bigfoot! Galaga! Mad Max, Back to the Future 2 and 3. Cabal
49:00 - Nes Journal - Introducing the Super nintendo Spec sheet! and Mike divulges a bit of his past with Video Game Mu

It's part one of our coverage of Issue 16 featuring Maniac Mansion. We hit the ground running and John delivers a new depth of depravity. Best episode ever? You let us know.
00:00 - Intro and the Table of Contents
04:30 - Mailbox! Nintendo Mom!, MILF Island, Student Experiments! the "Party" party! Disturbing costumes! Mario Question Corner! Video Spotlight!
16:20 - Final Fantasy treasure. Dessert island vacation. John finds a new use for the 2nd prize. Mike tells us who won the warmech hunt!
21:50 - Ben takes us to Maniac Mansion! John praises the Fontwork! Mike sings!
32:30 - Howard and Nester take on the Mafat conspiracy.
37:30 - Top 30, Rollergames. and some Football game that isnt tecmo bowl so John doesnt like it.
44:00 - Classified Information. Instant Tetris, Boy and his blob. and John RUINS the episode with some reddit relic. Mike Sings!

Hey there Power Players! Katherine stuck around for a bit talk more about her food anthropology podcast "How It Got In Your Mouth" and about getting the internet before everyone else. The mysogony of vocal fry, and the anti-masturbation policy of Mr. Kellogg (yeah the corn flakes guy) before leaving us alone to finally be a little raunchy and uncivilized again to discuss the Fun Club of Fall 1987.
But first, special news! You'll notice this episode is shorter than our usual movie length commentary. We are parsing out our coverage to let you get more power in manageable increments!
21:00 - Cover. Legend of Zelda and Game of Thrones!
24:40 - Taito 4-way. Legend of Kage. Elevator Action. Renegade and Arkanoid!
27:30 - Howard doesnt have his kid to protect him from our scorn anymore!
28:30 - Hitler cop rises!
29:20 - Metroid news! Burger Time! Karate Kid! Thank God Katherine left...

Mike went messing with the past and brought someone back from a Fun Club article to chat with us. Katherine Spiers from "How it got in your mouth" the food anthropology podcast, is here to hang out and discuss her show, and her experience with her step-father. Who is he? Just the Gamemaster himself, Howard Philips! Whats it like growing up with Nintendo Power as a predominant element in one's life? We find out this and so much more about Howie the man, the worker, the rocker, the athlete, the driver, and the dad. this might be our best episode ever!
00:00 - Intro. A bit about Katherine and the dangers of Howards celebrity!
20:00 - Cover. Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. and Hitler Cop gets a future upgrade in the table of contents
26:20 - Mail Box. It's raining Ben, Halleluiah! Hurricane Hugo wrecks a town but not a Nintendo! Old people and make awesome fans!
37:00 - Final Fantasy Coverage, Treasure Hunt

Howdy power players. Johns' first offical epsiode after being integrated into the Tri-force
There was no issue 13, just the Super Mario 3 strategy guide. So we head back to the past. Join us as we join: The Nintendo Fun Club!
First issue: Winter 1987
00:00 - Intro (botched by Mike)
04:30 - Cover (Headline?) Mario. Psycho mass murderer.
09:30 - Zelda battery pak save games. and Hogans alley zapper game. and police brutality jokes ensue.
13:20 - Super mario-a-thon. With suprising celebrities and startling mario!
18:30 - Mike looses his shit. and gets replaced by a balloon on the tour circuit...
20:00 - Pro Wrestling and Slalom.
21:00 - Nationwide high score competition and Shoddy Mario Bros screenshot
23:50 - Humble Howard tells us about his awesome J-O-B and we make our feelings about him known. John breaks Mike a

l Episode today boys. We don't lose a guest but gained a host as John has joined us. and good news about future episodes. This might just be our best episode ever!
00:00 - Intro and installation of the new host!
03:30 - Cover. Super C. and DinoWarz
06:30 - Mike explores his heritage with a reading of a letter from his homeland. and John debates the cost of body parts vs cartridges. and Ben
10:30 - Power Player Profile. Has Mike met his match?
12:45 - Final Fantasy with musical accompaniment by Mike, trauma by John, and racism by ben. plus a lot of back Story
24:30 - Super C! Have Ricky
29:46 - DinoWarz. Dear lord this game had such promise. and broke it all. From hacky writing to one color sprites. and John received some trauma instead of dishing it out. maybe this game isnt so bad after all.
36:00 - The Nesters are here again!

Howdy do April fools! This is issue 11 of Nintendo power. we have our first return guest, John!
we discuss another NES surviving certain doom, Super Mario bros 3, the hidden Japanese influences, and so much more! this might be our best episode ever.
00:00 - Super Mario Bros 3, inside cover, and table of contents
04:45 - Come sail away with the S.S NES, indie power players, and not so helpful counselors.
10:00 - Super Mario Bros 3. So many facts and trivia you might not know. and if you do, then well enjoy us learning. And Mike teaches us how to say blue grass in Japanese. Its impossible to not be racist if you say it properly. so he nails it. What is a tanuki? you DON'T want to know, but you will. and we also talk about the game. how do you get the white mushrooms? is Bowser cosplaying in this magazine?
27:40 - Silent Service. This games looks awesome. And John shows that looks are deceiving. but

We are joined by podcastors! Nick and Brent from The RPG Show discuss comics, games, Virginia and more!
03:30 - Cover art featuring Jack Nicholson
10:00 - Mailbag and power players featuring a young stooge in training, and lousy little brothers, and a NEW Nintendo system is coming!
20:00 - Batman. the hero the NES deserves
26:10 - Shadowgate and idea for another show!
33:00 - The making of Super Mario Bros 3! Shigeru Miyamoto's fave music, and the game that we never got.
41:20 - More Willow!
45:20 - Double Dragon 2
50:30 - Super Spike V-Ball
51:50 - Clash at demonhead! Why won't the artwork match the game!?!
57:20 - River City Ransom. Douchbros on the loose!
1:01:50 - Top 30
1:04:00 - Tetris! how is there a villain?
1:07:30 - Game Boy Games! Mario Golf! B

Apologies for the horrible sound. skype screwed us over in an unforgivable manner. we did NOT record with cell phones and we spent hours splicing the best audio we could find to repair it. It's still worth a listen. we had a lot of fun and hope you do too.
00:00 - Intro with music. and the power players suffer issue disparity!
05:40 - Table of Contents. Robocop is a hero? Mailbag poet. and creepy serial killer power players pulse.
12:30 - Willow. the original zelda? or is link the original willow?
14:00 - Tetris for the NES. but what is a block moving game? how is it different? is it like an RPG?
18:30 - Howard and Nester. oh boy. this comic. wow. very lawyer safe i guess
22:00 - Super off Road with tips by Ben. Iron Sword with animal tributes by Ben
26:00 - Spoiler alert, NES Endings revealed! we take issue with some of these morals to the stories

Ben brings another friend, John (with better sound this time!), and enjoys several games featured in this issue of nintendo power. Alcohol might have helped. Join us in the reverie of Issue 8 of Nintendo Power staring Ducktales! Mike's not racist. Just his jokes and myriad impressions....00:00 - Is Mike just doing skits for intros from now on?06:30 - Cover talk and a phone in a booth. 08:30 - Mail Box. NES vs Viking Caddy. Mario cake, and an infamous Power Player! and someone challenges Howard to the throne of NP. And gamers in need get denied?!21:00 - Ducktales - Woo ooo! We got Blue-eyed scrooge tripping balls. Greed is good. How great is the Moon level music?32:30 - Dragon Warrior again! does John know what an RPG is? how can they fuck up a slime? With power, that's how!42:30 - NES Satellite of love!54:00 - Counselors Corner! Did Kevin Spacey plant a pizza to punish Michelangelo? These counselors are

We have a special guest, Tron. He takes a break from fighting the master control program and attending the Player Hater's ball to join us to talk about the robot revolution to crap on the Trump family and Dr Wily in this issue of July/August of 1989. We cannot gush about mega man 2 enough. This issue give delicious artwork and coverage. BTW does anyone know what an RPG is?00:00 - Special intro, Trump Sr, and the Wily cover. Ben takes issue with the binding for the issue, and the table of contents is misleading07:00 - The Mail Box. a homemade NES Arcade. Make a wish kids. Characters after-games lives. 12:00 - Mega Man 2. Damn this game was so good. Precious memories. This guy has more emberassing names than bowie and sean combs and prince combined. Ben delivers a nice treat in the background. buckle up. we're in for a long ride.42:15 - Faxanadu. Im here all night for you. and talk about an artwork let down.50:

00:00 - Intro01:20 - Cover - TMNT. Donny is hungry and Raph has strange weapons. Captain Nintendo has something to tell you for a few bucks a minute.06:00 - Table of Contents and Mail Bag 08:00 - Mail bag rap10:00 - What is the player choice 10 arcade? What became of this talented artist in the mail bag? check out @mrbozon and see.13:00 - TMNT personal fallacies, typos, poor artwork and more. 27:00 - The Nester Awards for excellence in 1987. Best PVP Blades of Stool. I mean steel. 30:00 - Bayou Billy part 2. A vest that has proof that bullets exist. Also, Sgt Bullocks dark past.32:00 - Cobra Triangle. Not a snake girl's coochie. Get your head out the gutter.34:40 - Life Force still looking good.35:40 - Mega Man 2 preview!42:00 - Faxanadu. Not starring Olivia Newton-John. The art work here in-game is atrocious.48:30 - The Addams family. Uncle Fe

This week Mike realizes practice Isn't making perfect yet as he stumbles into issue 4. but we recover quickly thanks to Ben00:00 Intro (botched by Mike)02:20 The Cover03:30 Shelves of new controllers! (spoiler! Most are crap!)10:50 Wrestlemania! Can you dig it? The artwork and typos I mean.20:30 Captain Nintendo, still unreadable. Now you can do better!22:00 Can you tell me how to get PAST Sesame Street? 23:30 Zelda 2 - The Legend of Link. conflicting story with nice but misleading artwork.44:10 Centrefold45:00 Skate or Die! a game that demands cheating! Speaking Start screen49:00 Nester at the Olympics!51:30 Conspiracy at Counselors Corner!56:00 Classified Information - Hiring practices, tactical self termination, suggestive techniques!1:00:00 Marble Madness!!1:01:00 Operation Wolf. Punisher goes on world Tour?

A Brief Introduction to the concept and hosts and our experiences with Nintendo games and the magazine that made them beatableThis Issue:Interesting cover with wrong color Mario and a DIFFERENT looking Nintendo villain than intendedThe contents of this is surprisingly progressive for the 80's